PropertyMatch, the secondary trading portal for units in unlisted real estate funds, has recorded a 75% increase in the value of trades after its expansion into Europe.
In the past 12 months, the platform, run by CBRE and GFI Group, has facilitated £440m of trades. This compares with £250m in the previous year.
The portal’s second year of business has also seen trading frequency double, with more than 120 trades registered.
More than 115 funds, including 25 European vehicles, now use the service, which enables investors to view the price of units in funds available to buy – almost treble the 45 listed this time last year.
These include Pan-European and a number of specialist funds focused on France, Germany, Portugal and the Nordic countries following PropertyMatch’s move into Europe in January.
The platform was set up in September 2009 to address illiquidity in the unlisted property sector after the credit crunch.
The fall in trades was fuelled by the market’s opaque nature, with issues such as suspension of redemptions and volatility in pricing limiting the appeal of unlisted real estate vehicles.
